Farewell 2009...

Isn't this a nice rendition of Times Square? This is actually a sweater i found at a thrift shop! Yes, i am actually planning to wear it tomorrow at work! It WAS for the year 2000, but witha little tweaking (and fabric paint) it becomes very current!

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..So if you see this sweater, say hi, 'cause i'm pretty sure i'm the only person goofy enough to wear it in public!

Have a fun and Happy New Year!

A Snowy Walk

We've been very lucky with our snow so far this year - only an inch or so at a time. Here's a couple of small bushes that still stand out in winter. This is my THUJA occidentalis 'Rheingold'- (Dwarf Golden Arborvitae) with a frosting of the white stuff on it.

Below is a  CHAMAECYPARIS obtusa 'Crippsii', or Golden Hinoki Cypress. This is by far my favorite winter shrub- it has this golden yellow color all four seasons, and looks particularly bright after a snowfall.

Oh-Oh. Someone forgot to come in for the Winter!

Good Ideas (AKA- Good Old Polish Ingenuity!) :o)

My motto has always been, "If something isn't the way you want it, MAKE it the way you want it!" SO..., when i discovered this cool new product from Pledge (since i have two hair- infested cats!), i had to try it out, and i can tell you that it works GREAT! Much better than any other clothes brush i ever had! So the Pledge  company is on to something here, except for one thing - it's made to be disposable. The instructions even tell you, "Do not try to empty or disassemble disposable sweeper". Of course not.Then you would have no reason to throw it away and shell out ANOTHER 5 - 6 dollars for another one! Plus, what happened to the "greening" of our country? This product has a LOT of plastic to be throwing away every few weeks - NOT acceptable! So this was my solution:

i did try to empty it! Oh, it's made to NOT disassemble-i looked at the bottom and the seams, and if you tried to take it apart, you'd ruin it. But, all I did was to take a razor knife, cut a door in the top area the trapped hair is in, pull out the hair, and tape it back up! Taa-DAA! Good as new!

Well, it's not real pretty, but so what? i just saved five bucks! And i'll continue to save 5 bucks every time i empty it in the future! Even solved the one problem i had with it - i have dry hands, and it would slip out of my hand at times, but the tape is easier to grip - so i just improved it as well!

Hey, Reuse, Reuse, and Recycle, right?!

Big New Year's Eve Party!

Well, actually, no, but i look forward to this as much or more than a party. For the past 8 years, my hubby and i get a movie (usually a video  of a classic rock band's concert), get pizza, snacks and booze (!) and stay home, just the two of us (with the cats), and see the new year in together. i'm not a 'drinker' per se, but i have nothing against it, and like to try to get drunk once in a while! (Notice i said 'try'- i'm old- usually i have 3 drinks and fall asleep!). But this way, i can get as goofy as i want, won't be driving anywhere, and when i wake up in the morning, i'm pretty sure who'll be waking up next to me! ;o)

My biggest dilemma is what to drink - a lot of people i know have a 'trademark' drink - they'll always have wine, or Long Island Iced Teas,or Margaritas, whatever; but i just want something new every time. Being

a most -of -the- time nondrinker, i like sissy drinks like Kaluha and cream, Pina Coladas, Irish Cream, stuff like that, but they get sickening sweet after a few, so i have to go to slighty more potent things. So this year it will just be diet cola and Rum (which has NO carbs, by the way!), and/or Strawberry Margaritas.

Anyone have any favorites to recommend? i'm open to suggestions!

Still remembering the December of 2004, when DH had had intestinal surgery, and was in the hospital that entire month, coming home ON January 1, 2005, So i stayed home alone that New Year's Eve, feeling

sorry for both of us, (even though he had almost died, he was doing much better, so i should not have felt so bad, but even the night before he was released, we hadn't been informed yet and i didn't yet know when he'd be home).

So anyway, i am thankful every New Year's Eve that we can celebrate together, and i wish everyone a fun and safe New Year's Eve, whatever your chosen kind of celebration is!

I Want One, Too!

(CBS) The words, "Yes, dear," have a whole new meaning in one Ohio household.


This family has a deer living inside their house.


Dillie the deer has lived with the Buteras in Canal Fulton, Ohio, for the past five years. Abandoned by her mother at birth, because the mother incorrectly thought she was blind, Dillie has since become part of another family -- a family of humans.


Steve Heathman, Dillie's owner, said the deer is "like my daughter and son."


Over the years, Dillie has adjusted to living indoors, eating pasta and ice cream -- and even swimming in the family pool.


Dr. Melanie Butera, the veterinarian who rescued Dillie and her other owner, said, "She pretty much runs the household. Everything revolves around her."


Butera said on "The Early Show" Dillie was three days old when she came to the house. A sickly triplet, Dillie, Butera said, was almost dead when a deer farmer brought her to the house at 3 a.m.


The Buteras also have a dog and two cats.


How do all the animals coexist?


"Dillie grew up in the household with them, and she thinks they're part of her family," Butera said. "... The dog can't be too far away from Dillie at any time. They're very close to each other. Dillie just thinks the dog is her mom and we're just part of the family too."


As for Dillie's impact on the home, Butera said, the deer hasn't destroyed their furnishings. Butera said Dillie just spills coffee cups and glasses every now and then.


But where does the deer do its business?


Heathman said Dillie is litter-trained.


For more with Dillie and her family, click on the video below:



Watch CBS News Videos Online

RANT FOR THE PLANET

Well, i haven't had a good rant for a while, here's one near and dear to my heart...

My hubby listens these days to all of those inane conservative talk shows on television (Rush Limbaugh, Bill O'Reilly, etc) , filled with all those people who just like to hear themselves talk. i think it's a waste of time, but i guess i'm as bad, but in a different way - i don't have any use for anything political at all, and that isn't good,
either - BUT unfortunately, that's how i am.  i can't help but listen to them when DH and i are in the same room, though,and one thing does continually stand out to me - they go on and on about how ridiculous Al Gore is, because there really isn't any global warming, and come up with all sorts of "experts" who have all this proof to that effect.

i myself believe that global warming is an actual problem, and i seriously doubt that we can change the way things are being done in time to prevent Humankind's extermination (Like I say, it's not about "Save The Planet" - the Earth cannot be destroyed by us alone- it's "Save Our Environment" - we only have a tiny window of air and temperature extremes that we can survive in, and if we screw THAT up - well,  remember that little story about dinosaurs and how they

disappeared?...)

Anyhow, on to the point i'm making, which comes from my own simple observations, and that is IT DOESN'T MATTER! Why? OK, say there really IS global warming. Well, we have all heard what the effects could be, so i won't repeat them here. But, what if Al Gore and all those scientists ARE delusional and global warming isn't happening? Everything will be

fine, right? Uh,...no.

We are still polluting our water and air. We are still tearing down the rainforests at an incredible rate. We are still exterminating countless other life forms - Bison, Seals, Frogs, Sharks, Tigers, Whales, and hundreds or thousands of others! Does anyone NOT think that's going to impact US? We still need to change the way we do things to save our

asses, global warming or not!

( Although i do know some "religious" people who think that God put all this on Earth JUST for us to use, so we can use our resources irresponsibly forever - God will provide. How do you reason against THAT way of thinking?) I seriously am not sure why i'm worried about it - i

never had children, so once i'm gone, i really shouldn't care what happens- y'all can take care of yourselves! But still, i recycle and compost and stay away from chemicals when i can - if we do destroy our environment, at least i won't be a part of it...